The present invention relates generally to an implement used for playing diamond sports. More particularly, the current invention relates to a bat having interchangeable handles and barrels.
It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that in the diamond sports, high performance bats are highly desirable. These high performance bats can vary in characteristics and can include numerous expensive parts and be themselves an expensive implement. It will also be appreciated that the specific bat that provides the best performance for a particular individual can vary for individual players of the diamond sports. For example, each participant can vary in specific skill level, weight, strength, height, and dexterity. Additionally, the in specific dimensions of the field being played upon as well as the particular ball being used during the diamond sport can also vary. As such, various bat characteristics can be altered to provide a higher performance bat for those specific sets of circumstances. For example, the weight of the bat, the length of the bat, the weight distribution, the material comprising the bat, the specific configuration of the bat, including multiple wall configurations, and other bat specifics can vary the performance of the bat in a given users hands. Other external sources such as the climate in which the bat is utilized can also vary a bat's performance. As such, an individual player may own numerous styles and types of bats in order to attempt to maximize the overall grouping of factors to provide the highest performance of a bat under a given set of circumstances.
Additionally, various regulatory bodies of the diamond sports have varying performance standards and bat specifications which must be met in order for the bat to be eligible within that association. Players also prefer to use varying bats for various situations. For example, player sometimes prefer to use one bat for practice and a different bat during a game. This can maintain the life of or extend the longevity in the bats used in game situations and can enhance various batting skills. For example, a practice bat could be heavier in order to build strength during the practice sessions and be able to better withstand the higher number of impacts normally experienced during a practice session.
It should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the various parts of a bat have different wear characteristics. The various sections of a bat will experience various levels of fatigue for various reasons during the lifespan of a bat. For example, the ball striking portion of the bat experiences compressive stresses and deflections when contacting the ball. Over time, the stresses and deflections create deformations in the barrel, which causes failure. However, usually in this situation the transition portion or handle portion of the bat is still in proper working condition and could be reused if the barrel could be replaced.
As such, there have been several prior attempts to provide bats having separable parts, namely separable handles and barrels, to meet this need. Unfortunately, these prior art attempts have adversely affected the performance of the bat and have used complicated techniques in order to try and reach a proper interchangeable bat. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,409,214, 6,511,392, 6,432,006, 5,820,438, 4,907,800, 3,955,816, 6,609,984, and 3,877,698 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2003/0069095 discloses various prior attempts to create a bat with interchangeable sections. These prior art patents and publications used direct threadable attachments between the various sections of the bat in order to secure the sections together. In this construction, the threaded portions will be the weakest sections of the bat and will result in failure at these threads. Additionally, most of these prior art items use very short threaded dowels or bolts in order to attempt to achieve a proper connection. The use of these short threaded items makes it difficult to achieve a proper connection between the elements of the bat and performance of the bat. These threads also add much to the overall cost of the product and will be subject to most of the wear on the bat resulting in most of the failures in the bat. Additionally, other features, such as a shell, are practically inoperable with these prior art bats.
United States Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004/0224801 and 2004/0224802 and 2004/0224803 attempts to provide a bat with interchangeable sections. These patent application publications also disclose numerous bats having internal threading used to hold all the various parts together. Additionally these bats have the handle portion of the bat extending completely through the barrel and attached to the end cap on the opposite end of the barrel. This configuration adds additional cost to the bat as well as lessens the overall performance of the bat due to the inadequacies in the weight, momentum, and bending characteristic of these prior art bats.
What is needed then is a bat with an interchangeable handle and interchangeable barrel that maintains a high level of performance and reduces the overall cost of the bat. This needed bat should provide adequate connection between the individual sections or parts of the bat while facilitating an easy disassemblement of the bat. This needed bat can allow the user of the bat to change the parts of the bat to vary the materials used, weight of the bat, size of the bat, and grip of the bat. This needed bat should provide the capability for multiple interchangeable barrels and handles that will conform to the specifications required by the governing bodies of the sport to which they are used while providing for the rotation of barrels used in game and practice situations. This needed bat is lacking in the art.